Questioning SWO A

[*Amber*]

I just got this yesterday and after looking at it, it looks pretty simple. It doesn't really look like a 1st grade program it looks more like Kindergarten. DH doesn't want me to switch now that we have it but I am just not sure it'll be enough. I like the look of Soaring with spelling and vocabulary, but my dd isn't reading fluently yet (close but not quite there). Could she do this program before she is reading fluently?

 

Should I just go with SWO A or try the other?:confused:

[Brenda in FL]

We've used SWO since my 7th grader started. The beginning lessons in A are simple but after the first few you get to the typical lists and exercises.

 

Since your child isn't reading fluently yet - then I would start with A. It will give your child a confidence booster, and you will probably finish it beofre the end of the year and can move right into B.

 

SWO is also great in that your child can pretty much do the exercises on their own! You just give the warm up and post tests.

 

That said - my youngest - did think it was too easy! He often times just kept going through the book and then we'd have a few days of tests back-to-back. Also if we did the warm up test and he got 100% then I didn't do a final test.

 

Another tip - skip the writing exercise - it often has nothing to do with the lesson and is just not necessary. (Got the OK for that from the great SWB herself!)

 

I use the article at the start of the lesson to make sure their reading is going smoothly (this is after we have given up daily reading out loud to me.)

 

I am not familiar with the other program.

[Dana]

I used SWO A in first grade. Ds did fine with it. We moved on to B in 2nd grade. Ds could do the work, but he didn't seem to be retaining anything. I also started to see the need for some formal phonics (ds is a self-taught reader). After reading a good bit here, I got All About Spelling. It's working much better for us than SWO ever did. We're about to finish up Level 1 and ds has learned reasons behind spelling - much more than the little comments in SWO.

 

SWO may be useful for you, but AAS was a much better fit here.